Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Price: $39.99.
Armchair travel is definitely more on the cards these days than ever before. Think of all the planning opportunities!
Helping to make destination decisions easier is the second edition of Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List that features nine of the world’s best travel experiences in Australia!
Scoring the #3 ranking across all destinations in the world (after Petra, Jordan and The Galápagos Islands) is Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. It was singled out for praise as a champion sustainable tourism where visitors can connect and learn from traditional owners. It “radiates mystery and majesty”.
There’s a decidedly outdoor flavour to these Australian destinations and experiences. With national parks, marine parks, gorgeous beaches and remote islands from across our vast continent all appearing on the list.
The diversity of Australian destinations is featured in this list. Lonely Planet’s Chris Zeiher says, three of “my all-time favourite places to visit anywhere in the world happen to be in our own backyard and they’ve all made the list”.
They are the “show-stopping Lord Howe Island, the vast and beguiling Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the often overlooked Kangaroo Island have all scored positions in the overall top 100 in this list of 500 – that’s such an exciting achievement”.
The following nine brilliant Australian travel experiences made the list:
- #3 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory
- #11 Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
- #26 Sydney Harbour & Opera House, New South Wales
- #58 Lord Howe Island, New South Wales
- #90 Kangaroo Island, South Australia
- #93 Freycinet National Park & Wineglass Bay, Tasmania
- #144 Silo Art Trail, Victoria
- #147 Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia
- #380 MoNA, Tasmania
Skillfully illustrated, industry experts have packed this coffee table book, produced every five years, with a definitive wish list of the 500 most thrilling, memorable and interesting travel experiences in the world – ranked in order of brilliance. This edition contains over 200 new entries.
They are a mix of “knock-out new openings, sights that have upped their game or places more relevant to what we want from travel now”.
